It’s a lose-lose situation
The July 18 business section of The Star-Ledger gave considerable space to an article about “Jersey-based firms pouring billions into wind, solar ventures.” The July 24 business section ran a smaller article about how Rutgers benefitted from a $10 million project in which China’s second largest solar-panel maker provided the solar panels (“Rutgers benefits from cheap Chinese deal”).

Are we trading dependence on fossil fuels from a group of totalitarian countries to dependence on “green energy” from a different totalitarian country? Who is bamboozling us? The press, the government, or both? Ronald Weinger, Berkeley Heights

Doesn’t make sense
Regarding the July 24 article about Rutgers University solar panels, are you telling me that the government is taxing me in order to spend billions of dollars to subsidize alternative energy and the Chinese are getting the money?

When will we ever have a rational government?Jerrod Metta, Flemington

Saving Atlantic City
Having grown up in Atlantic City and worked in my family’s business — Russ Miller Record Shops — I remember the plight of those big dreams for Atlantic City’s future and the hopes for the casino industry. I remember the efforts to bring in casino gambling during a time when Atlantic City was falling apart and tourists were losing interest in visiting.

While the idea to take over Atlantic City, in whole or in part, is not a new one, I must give Gov. Chris Christie full credit for taking the bull by the horns in acting on a proposed entertainment district controlled by the state. I remember when politicians spoke out on this issue in the past and did not get the support they needed to make it happen.
Having spent the first half of my life on the eastern side of Atlantic County, I know the frustration of decades of corruption, wasteful spending and sometimes just plain, bad judgment.

The state development of a public/private partnership with all the casinos and government entities involved can lead only to a brighter future in these difficult economic times. Chuck Chiarello, mayor, Buena Vista Twp.

A rising star
Gov. Chris Christie is doing exaclty what the voters hoped he’d do — take on the established, never-saw-a-tax-they-didn’t-like liberal Democratic machine that has run our state into the red and pressured many to move out because they could not afford to live here.

Our governor is getting plenty of notice on the national level by those who cheer his no-nonsense style and his insistence on responsible fiscal policies. Diane McVey, Scotch Plains

Return the money
In the July 24 Reader Forum, I noted a person who contributed two weeks of his unemployment benefit check to an out-of-state U.S. Senate candidate’s political campaign (“Digging the debt deeper”). He dutifully railed against “unfunded” unemployment benefits, the newest talking point handed out by the Republican Party.

Evidently, the writer had no problem with the unfunded Iraq War for seven years to the tune of $700 billion, and the many other unfunded spending measures during the Bush administration and Republican-controlled congressional years from 2000 to 2006. But those Americans who dare wish to feed their family or keep a shelter over their heads while unemployed because of the Great Recession deserve nothing.

I suggest the writer immediately return the amount of those meaningless checks he doesn’t need or want (or rather, doesn’t want others to receive) to the state Treasury, so that money can benefit someone who actually needs it. He apparently doesn’t see the patently fraudulent position of complaining about receiving benefits while actually claiming them, and sending them to an out-of-state politician who votes against unemployment benefits.

Although unemployment benefits actually return to the economy quickly, as those unemployed need to buy food, he has proven he can waste it even faster, and will probably claim the tax deduction for “our” contribution. Get a job, you lazy bum. Maybe you can work for Scott Brown and earn a living. Don Stack, West Orange

The ‘new’ journalism
It’s ironic that John Farmer rebukes “new” journalism in general and Fox News specifically in his latest column (“Journalism letting story trump facts”). The journalism that should be rebuked these days is the mainstream liberal media because of its continuous love affair with the Obama administration and the Democratic Party. To find news that conflicts with administration statements and policies, it’s necessary to tap Fox and conservative journalism. You will be hard pressed to find such material in the network news or newspapers. This is certainly true in Farmer’s case.

When Farmer talks about the new media pushing “accuracy and objectivity off stage,” he should look a little closer to home. Richard Mallia, Basking Ridge

Standing up to Iran
Regarding the article entitled “Arabs worry about a nuclear Iran, too” (July 23), I was astonished to read that the United Arab Emirates ambassador said he wants the United States to use force to stop Iran. He said, “Iran is more of a threat to the Arabs, their historic rivals, than to anyone else” and that Arabs in the region dread an Iranian bomb more than anyone else.

It is time for the Arab nations to stand up to Iran. If they view a nuclear Iran as a threat to them and to the region, it is time for them to have the courage to speak out and to act. If they think that force is needed, it is up to them to send in their own troops. They can’t look to the United States to bail them out. We’re already running two wars in the Middle East, losing the lives of young American men and women and spending billions of dollars.

We can’t be the policemen of the world. If we went into Iran with force, the Arab nations would be united in condemning us as “the great Satan.” Jerry Appelbaum, Rockaway

A dangerous bill
I oppose S1181/A1683, the perimeter hunting bill that will reduce the allowable distance to hunt from someone’s house down to 150 feet.

There is no reason we need to allow hunters to hunt closer to our back yards. Don’t they have enough space in our public parks? I can’t believe this bill is possibly going to be passed. How many children, and pets and their owners will be injured or killed before lawmakers realize how bad a decision this is?

This is typical of our government today: Decisions are not made because they make sense, but because of pressure from lobbyists — in this case, pro-hunting groups.
I urge our governor to think about this and realize how dangerous this is before he is also pressured into passing the bill.

I hope for the day when hunting is outlawed and seen for what it really is: cruel, barbaric and outdated. But at least in the meantime, I hope a huge mistake is not made and this bill is not passed. It will undoubtedly cause innocent people to get hurt. It’s only a matter of time. Nancy Ehrlich, Ocean